--- title: "Aptevo receives $1.5 million grant to advance APVO451" url: "https://aibio.space/news/aptevo-receives-1-5-million-grant-advance-apvo451/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2026-06-30" section: "Company Updates" tickers: "NASDAQ:APVO" source: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1671584/000119312526290473/apvo-ex99_1.htm" summary: "Aptevo was awarded a $1.5 million non-dilutive research grant from the Andy Hill CARE Fund to support IND-enabling work for APVO451, its nectin-4-targeted" --- By the aibio.space news desk. Sources - [Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. 8-K (2026-06-30)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1671584/000119312526290473/apvo-ex99_1.htm) - [Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. 10-K (2026-03-26): business](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1671584/000119312526126278/apvo-20251231.htm) - [Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. financial data (SEC XBRL)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1671584/000119312526126278/) [APVO](https://aibio.space/companies/aptevo-therapeutics/) 2026-06-30 # Aptevo receives $1.5 million grant to advance APVO451 Tickers [APVO](https://aibio.space/companies/aptevo-therapeutics/) Aptevo was awarded a $1.5 million non-dilutive research grant from the Andy Hill CARE Fund to support IND-enabling work for APVO451, its nectin-4-targeted trispecific candidate. ## Key facts - **Company**: Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: APVO) - **News type**: Company Updates - **Primary source**: [Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. 8-K (2026-06-30)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1671584/000119312526290473/apvo-ex99_1.htm) *A sample tube held up to the light. Photo: NASA, CC0, via rawpixel. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. said on June 30, 2026 that it has been awarded a $1.5 million non-dilutive research grant from the Andy Hill Cancer Research Endowment (CARE) Fund. The grant is awarded under the fund's Implementation and Outcomes Research program and supports investigational new drug (IND)-enabling work for APVO451, a trispecific antibody-like immunotherapy candidate for solid tumors. The release is an [exhibit to an 8-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1671584/000119312526290473/apvo-ex99_1.htm). ## The grant and its purpose Aptevo says the grant was reviewed by subject matter experts and awarded on merit, and that it provides external validation of APVO451's tumor-directed trispecific design. That reading is the company's belief. A grant for preclinical work is not evidence that the drug works. The company says the award supports its ongoing work around nectin-4-targeted therapies. The release says the company expects APVO451 to advance toward development candidate selection by year-end 2026, with initiation of IND-enabling studies in the first quarter of 2027. It describes APVO451 as a strategic pipeline priority that extends Aptevo's controlled immune-activation platform into solid tumors. Michelle Nelson, Ph.D., Senior Director at Aptevo and principal investigator of the study, said: "Solid tumors continue to present significant challenges for immunotherapy, particularly because the tumor microenvironment can limit effective immune activation." Nelson will lead the study. The release says her background includes immunobiology, solid tumor immunotherapy, and IND-enabling development. The grant will support preclinical studies and development work intended to advance the program toward development candidate selection and future regulatory-enabling studies. The release notes that CARE Fund grants promote cancer research led by public and private entities conducting cancer research in Washington State. ## What APVO451 is designed to do According to the release, APVO451 brings three functions together in a single molecule. It targets nectin-4, a tumor-associated marker expressed in multiple solid tumors. It activates CD40 on antigen-presenting cells to engage innate immunity in the tumor. It engages CD3 on T cells to direct tumor cell killing. The company says CD3 and CD40 activity depend on binding to nectin-4, which is designed to focus immune activation where it is needed and reduce the risk of systemic immune activation. APVO451 also uses Aptevo's CRIS-7-derived CD3 binding domain, the same CD3 approach used in mipletamig. Aptevo says that approach is designed to engage T cells while reducing the risk of excessive cytokine release. Mary Janatpour, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Aptevo Therapeutics, said the company is grateful to the CARE Fund for recognizing the promise of this approach. She added that the program is designed to activate both antigen-presenting cells and T cells within the tumor microenvironment. ## The company and its financial position The 10-K describes Aptevo as a clinical-stage biotechnology company. It has two clinical candidates and six preclinical candidates, built on its ADAPTIR and ADAPTIR-FLEX platforms, which it wholly owns. The lead clinical candidate, mipletamig, is a CD123xCD3 T cell engager being evaluated in the RAINIER trial with venetoclax and azacitidine. The XBRL data show research and development expense of $14.5 million for 2025, compared with $14.4 million for 2024. The net loss was $26.0 million in 2025 and $24.1 million in 2024. Operations used $25.6 million of cash in 2025 and $23.8 million in 2024. Year-end 2024 cash and cash equivalents were $8.7 million. ## How far the grant goes The $1.5 million is small beside the $25.6 million of cash the company used in operations in 2025 and the $14.5 million it spent on research and development. It supports the preclinical work only, and the release says nothing about how long the money lasts or what portion it covers. APVO451 has no human data and the release shows no animal or laboratory results for it. The claims that the design focuses immune activation and lowers the risk of systemic immune activation are what the molecule is designed to do, not demonstrated outcomes. The next steps, candidate selection by year-end 2026 and IND-enabling studies in the first quarter of 2027, are company targets that can slip, and a first human trial would come later still. Aptevo has no product revenue and its cash was $8.7 million at year-end 2024, so it will need more funding to carry the program on. [Report an error](https://aibio.space/reputation/#correction) ## Companies in this story APVO Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. 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Cite as: aibio.space, "Aptevo receives $1.5 million grant to advance APVO451", 2026-06-30, https://aibio.space/news/aptevo-receives-1-5-million-grant-advance-apvo451/